Volunteers from Kurdish YPG force pay tribute to former IT worker killed in action in Syria

Anti-Islamic State fighters from around the globe were among hundreds of mourners who flooded a small Dorset community hall on Friday to celebrate the life of a British former IT worker killed fighting the jihadist group in Syria.

Jac Holmes, 24, from Bournemouth, was one of the longest-serving international volunteers with Syria’s Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), having travelled to northern Syria three times since August 2015.